NaDruWriNi – The Clockwork Magician

November 6th, 2005

Well, here it is, the night of November 5th and I’ve got a wonderful little buzz from the mediocre Cosecha 2001 from Palacio de Monsalud, recommended by the local liquor store owner. I remember now why I don’t trust their recommendations.

Tonight’s plans changed quite a few times, starting with ideas of going to CGC benefit concert in the city, morphing into a local movie theater trip to see Serenity or Wallace and Gromit – and having struck out at everything up until then, ended with us heading home for a “date” night in watching a favorite movie with a good bottle of wine.

I “delicioused” a great little list of cheap wines that don’t taste like ass a while back, and went to the store armed with a bunch of names and descriptions, only to find that no one around here stocks them. Figures. I ended up with what the shopkeep wanted to move off his shelves.

So a glass or two in and a few hours and a movie later, and I’m feeling very into the idea of NaDruWriNi – just enough lubrication to allow me to plow through my normal writing inhibitions and get some ideas down on paper. I’m not doing the NaNoWriMo this year, as I’ve got plenty to do already this month, besides doing the requisite family visits around thanksgiving.

So instead, I give you this short story. Ill-conceived and only half formed as I begin it, but hopefully bolstered by my active imagination and alcohol enabled fleet-fingers.

The Clockwork Magician

“Chi-ging… ging… ging…” The bells on the door of the little shop chimed softly as the woman entered. She was tall, maybe 32 or so, and had a stateliness about her.

“Hello Suzanne. What’s the trouble this week?” Daniel asked, extending his hand to her.

Suzanne looked up at him from her purse and smiled, handing her pocketwatch to him and holding his hand as she did. She always marveled at his hands, so slender and delicate, more like a woman’s than any man she’d known. Soft and precise and oh! She’d been holding it a little too long she realized. She flushed and smiled again, taking her hand back.

“It’s this old pocketwatch. Can’t seem to keep it together, no matter how gentle I try to be. I know it’s not fashionable for a lady to carry a watch, but, well you know me.”

“I certainly do” Daniel said, smiling back at her now. Daniel’s body matched his hands; his lanky form moved with a cat’s grace, and he took the watch from her hand and opened it, regarding first it’s face, then hers, in one silky motion.

She softened a bit under his gaze and he cocked his head to the side a bit and smiled, holding the broken watch to his ear.

“Oh. A slipped gear. We’ll have this fixed in a moment.” He said, already taking a tiny, well worn screwdriver from his toolbench. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Eric Skiff Filed in blogging, fiction
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NaDruWriNi

November 1st, 2005

NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month project inspires people (primarily blogging types) all over the world to get off their lazy butts in November and write write write. The primary force behind writers block is static inertia, I.E. “a body at rest tends to stay at rest.” NaNoWriMo is designed to break through that block and get you writing, to the tune of 50,000 works over the course of November. The official rules even state that the object isn’t to get you to write the Great American Novel - it’s to get you writing at all.

Static Inertia is sticky wicket, however, and some people never quite get the ball rolling. Blogs abound with announcements of the author’s intention to participate, and maybe even an early snippet, and then go silent on the matter.

As a tribute, parody, or both, Abroad-Abroad.org (shes a broad who’s abroad - get it?) is hosting NaDruWriNi - National Drunken Writing Night this Saturday, November 5th.

nadruwrini

From abroad-abroad.org

Ahhh. Nothing is more satisfying that sending an e-mail out to all your pretentious writer friends declaring your heartfelt dedication to NaNoWriMo, and then not completing one teeny tiny single bit of it.

Staying away from NaNoWriMo because you got burned last year? Need a push to get started this year? Fire up the laptops and come participate in an ambitious writing project thats much less, um… ambitious.

Posted by Eric Skiff Filed in blogging, fiction
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